Staff Picks for April 2025

Absolutely epic, like the monolith on the album cover, AVD cranks up the Parisian electro duo's signature sound to the heavens, creating an experience fit for an IMAX screen. The opening run of "Horsepower" and the monstrous "Civilization" will have your body ascending into outer space before you realize what's happening, while the rest of the stadium-sized set stomps and shines and shimmers its way deep into your electro-loving soul.
- Neil Z. Yeung

Toni Braxton went through a lot in the years separating her star-making Toni Braxton and her 2000 comeback The Heat, released 25 years ago today. Yes, she became a star, but she also went through a painful bankruptcy that delayed her sequel for years. Fortunately, you wouldn't be able to tell that there was so much behind-the-scenes drama from The Heat -- it's a confident, assured, sexy effort that reaffirmed Braxton's status as one of the finest contemporary mainstream soul singers.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Recorded in 1965 at Copenhagen's Montmartre Jazzhus, this live concert by tenor saxophone legend Dexter Gordon was the third of five radio broadcasts the tenor man did for Danish radio. Although many believe that Gordon was at a creative peak during the time period of this set, Misty comes from an unfortunately fallow period for him in the studio, as he would only make one album, Setting the Pace with saxophonist Booker Ervin, that same year. Consequently, these recordings stand as previously unissued testaments to the muscular and tender mid-career brilliance of Gordon.
- Matt Collar

Script of the Bridge remains a high-water mark of what can generally be called post-punk music, an hour's worth of one amazing song after another, practically a greatest-hits record on its own. The best one-two punch comes from "Second Skin," a complex, beautifully arranged and played reflection on the meaning of music and fandom, and "Up the Down Escalator," an at once harrowing and thrilling antinuclear/mainstream politics slam.
- Ned Raggett

Telegram is in fact a series of remixes of the songs on Post, but they hold together as well as a real album would. Björk's musical sensibilities have always been groundbreakingly unique, but if you take that quirky bed and then put it in the hands of producers and guest like Tricky, Nellie Hooper, Graham Massey, the Brodsky Quartet, Marius de Vries and others, it gets another layer of loops and blips laid on top. All of the tracks are solid, but the highlight is the Howie B. addled "I Miss You" with loping beats and an atmospheric overall vibe.
- Zac Johnson

ABBA's self-titled third album, released 50 years ago today, was the one that really broke the group on a worldwide basis. The Eurovision Song Contest winner "Waterloo" had been a major international hit and "Honey, Honey" a more modest one, but ABBA was still an exotic novelty to most of those outside Scandinavia until the release of ABBA in the spring of 1975.
- William Ruhlmann

A fantastic primer to the pioneering British producer Joe Meek, this 20-song collection features many of his most notable singles (the Tornados' "Telstar," the Honeycombs' "Have I the Right") along with horror pop curios from Screaming Lord Sutch and the Moontrekkers and other rarities.
- Timothy Monger

Diamonds & Rust, released 50 years ago today, shows Joan Baez outdoing the current crop of confessional singer/songwriters at soul baring. She sang to Dylan, reminiscing about her '60s love affair with him intensely, affectionately, and unsentimentally. It was her finest moment as a songwriter and one of her finest performances, period, and when A&M finally released it on 45, it made the Top 40, propelling the album to gold status.
- William Ruhlmann

Judging only by his earlier, bare-bones indie-label albums, it seemed highly unlikely that Elliott Smith would turn into the ambitious arranger and studio craftsman of his lushly textured Dreamworks debut, XO. Smith continues in that direction for the follow-up, Figure 8 (released 25 years ago today), an even more sonically detailed effort laden with orchestrations and inventive production touches.
- Steve Huey

This singles collection takes from the early '60s output of this Memphis soul singer, each selection emphasizing how tragically overlooked she was in her time. Her cult hit "After Laughter Comes Tears" (famously sampled by Wu-Tang Clan) is a moody soul knockout, but every other track here is also on par with the biggest names of soul.
- Fred Thomas

Like the more celebrated '60s guitar group, the Monkees had great pop success with their first couple records, and noodled psychedelically successfully on their later albums Head and Instant Replay, which makes Headquarters their Rubber Soul/Revolver era. Darker and more brooding songs like "You Told Me" sit alongside folky tunes like "I'll Spend My Life With you" without sounding jarring or incongruous.
- Zac Johnson

Recorded with little rehearsal and only two acoustic guitars (plus a percussionist) for accompaniment, Gil e Jorge, released 50 years ago this month, focuses squarely on the individual talents of Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben as musicians, vocalists, performers, and improvisers. Of course, they prove up to the task.
- John Bush

Standing at the nexus of doomy stoner metal, fuzz-blasted psych-rock, and bracing post-rock, Newcastle's Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs confront existential dread with creativity. Darker and more assured than its predecessors, Land of Sleeper parses the outrage and catastrophizing of the social media age with gravitas.
- James Monger

Recorded at the height of Dexter Gordon's career resurgence following his signing to Blue Note in 1961, Soul Sister captures the tenor saxophonist on two intimate and hard-swinging live quartet dates at the beginning of his 14-year European sojourn. These recordings fit chronologically after his iconic 1962 album Go! and just prior to his 1963 album Our Man in Paris, and as such nicely spotlight one of his most creatively fertile and musically adept periods.
- Matt Collar

Cut straight on the heels of Bad Company's 1974 debut -- just a matter of three months later; not quite long enough to know how big a success the first LP would be -- Straight Shooter, released 50 years ago today, is seemingly cut from the same cloth as its predecessor.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Return of Saturn, released 25 years ago today, is an almost defiantly mature record about two things: Stefani's exploration of a troubled romance and her own romantic ideals, plus a serious attempt by the group to not only keep new wave alive, but to make that adolescent music relevant to an older audience. It's a high concept, but Return of Saturn is filled with satisfying contradictions.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Perhaps as underrated as Pop, this refreshing, late era set has stood up quite well after a decade, especially considering their uneven 2010s output. Unabashedly bold, experimental, and catchier than you might remember, songs like the title track, the massive "Magnificent," the quirky "Get On Your Boots," and the sprawling "FEZ/Being Born" hit all the right marks for when you need a U2 fix outside of the greatest hits.
- Neil Z. Yeung

Created remotely in just 6 weeks during the Covid-19 pandemic, Charli xcx’s sixth studio album is the quintessential party girl’s guide to quarantine loneliness: reverberating autotune, abrasive synths, hyperpop beats, and hard-hitting bass paired with raw confessions about love, attachment, and isolation—both emotional and government-mandated.
- Lane Liu

After nearly getting off the ground with Get Your Wings, Aerosmith finally perfected their mix of Stonesy raunch and Zeppelin-esque riffing with their third album, Toys in the Attic, released 50 years ago today. The success of the album derives from a combination of an increased sense of songwriting skills and purpose. Not only does Joe Perry turn out indelible riffs like "Walk This Way," "Toys in the Attic," and "Sweet Emotion," but Steven Tyler has fully embraced sleaziness as his artistic muse.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The L.A. stalwarts' introspective third record is dominated by the sad mysteries of life and the less-than-generous nature of fate, as ordinary people try to come to terms with death, disappointment, love that's faded into the shadows, and the mingled comfort and uncertainties of faith.
- Timothy Monger

An expanded version of the classic 1980 Television bootleg Arrow, 1982's The Blow Up documented a March 1978 club date in Long Island. On stage, Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd set aside the precision of their studio work and let rip, and this combines their six-string virtuosity with an explosive energy that takes the songs to dazzling heights – this is the most exciting music the great band ever gave an authorized release.
- Mark Deming

While exploring My Morning Jacket's new album, I found myself revisiting their 2008 juggernaut Evil Urges. There are some sweet mid-tempo tunes ("Librarian," "Smokin from Shootin" and "Thank You Too!"), but the arena anthem "I'm Amazed," the riff-heavy "Aluminum Park" and the bizarro Prince-meets-Cookie Monster cartoon "Highly Suspicious" are front and center as the real standouts.
- Zac Johnson

A powerful statement of intent and a hugely cinematic amalgam of heavy metal subgenres, the stalwart Aussie unit's sixth studio long-player draws from old-school melodic headbangers like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, while maintaining some of the seismic post-hardcore crunch of mid-period offerings like Deep Blue and Atlas.
- James Monger

After slowly but surely building a fanbase around the world with albums like Razamanaz and Loud 'N' Proud, Nazareth finally hit the big time in 1975 with Hair of the Dog, released 50 years ago today. The title track sets the mood for this stark album of hard rock with its combination of relentless guitar riffs, a throbbing, cowbell-driven beat, and an angry vocal from Dan McCafferty that denounces a "heart-breaker, soul-shaker." The end result is a memorably ferocious rocker that has become a staple of hard rock radio stations.
- Donald A. Guarisco

On his eclectic reworking of Marvin Gaye's classic What's Going On, the saxman happily genre-hops between '70s soul (complete with wah-wah guitar), slow, and steady blues, straight-ahead jazz, and hip-hop. His most inspired moments by weave his trademark edgy alto with his lesser-known but still potent talents on EWI and flute.
- Jonathan Widran

Informally recorded between 1988-1990. this informal set is revelatory, particularly in the six improvisations here; the rest displays consummate communication and imagination.
- Thom Jurek